Having overcome financial ruin and redeemed his family name to become the most legendary investor in London, the Duke of Westmead needs to secure his holdings by producing an heir. Which means he must find a wife who won’t discover his secret craving to spend his nights on his knees—or make demands on his long scarred-over heart.

Poppy Cavendish is not that type of woman. An ambitious self-taught botanist designing the garden ballroom in which Westmead plans to woo a bride, Poppy has struggled against convention all her life to secure her hard-won independence. She wants the capital to expand her exotic nursery business—not a husband.

But there is something so compelling about Westmead, with his starchy bearing and impossibly kind eyes—that when an accidental scandal makes marriage to the duke the only means to save her nursery, Poppy worries she wants more than the title he is offering. The arrangement is meant to be just business. A greenhouse for an heir. But Poppy yearns to unravel her husband’s secrets—and to tempt the duke to risk his heart.

I had told my friend that this is different from Bridgerton, and better because (than the first one at least) because the characters act more like adults. For some reason she thought this would make it more like Austen.

If you’ve read Peckham’s work, you know, it’s more like Fifty Shades of Grey. But that thinking is on her. I made no mention of it being like Austen.

Nonetheless, she enjoyed Poppy the most, especially as they both have an affinity for plants. Plus one has to admire that after their fight, Poppy brushed herself off, thought she deserved better and followed through in leaving Westmead for a month.

We both agree that the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the character work of the rest of the book. Still it was engaging. She prefers the Viscount Who Loved Me more though.

Anyway, after all this romance we’re going back to a classic murder mystery with The Blackbird Murders.